question: the manuscript box I found is kind of big, since they only asked for 50 pages and i'm afraid it will make me look careless. I know I'm suppose to send it out within the week, but should i try to find a smaller box for partials or just send it in the box I have?

BlancheKing wrote:
question: the manuscript box I found is kind of big, since they only asked for 50 pages and i'm afraid it will make me look careless. I know I'm suppose to send it out within the week, but should i try to find a smaller box for partials or just send it in the box I have?

If it's 50 pages, they might fit in a manila or FedEx type of envelope. I think I've done that before.

kayemevans wrote:
Aspiring, how did you find out the query wasn't personal from Query Tracker????

if you go to an agent's page, then go to the comments section, a lot of times people will write what the agent said. this particular rejection was given to several others verbatim, but there was another one she doled out repeatedly that was more harsh. not very harsh, she was a very nice agent. so i was a little encouraged that i got the nicer form reject of the two. wish i had waited to query her though.

question: the manuscript box I found is kind of big, since they only asked for 50 pages and i'm afraid it will make me look careless. I know I'm suppose to send it out within the week, but should i try to find a smaller box for partials or just send it in the box I have?

Wow, that's REALLY good! Congrats to you!

And, I would try to send it in a box or envelope that it fits in and doesn't seem to oversized.

paravil wrote:d minus, you have me extremely curious about this mean personalized rejection. I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask if you would share it with us (sans any identifying information, of course). Sorry if I'm being forward, but I'm just too curious. That definintely sounds like a kick in the teeth.

Congratulations on the manuscript request. That's excellent, especially after 10 queries. And good luck querying in the vague non-genre of literary fiction. I'm right there with you.

It was so short that I'm going to post it verbatim: We suggest you learn to write before seeking representation, but good luck anyways.
This was a rejection, sent from an assistant, on a partial request. It hurt especially because I have two degrees and I teach writing.
I suppose I'm able to shrug it off now that I've licked my wounds (err.. missing teeth), but even with the very nice personalized rejection, and the full request, it's still hard to be optimistic. Literary fiction is definitely a tough fight; you never know what you're going to be hit with.

And thanks, Marilyn, for the link. It's encouraging to read other people's experiences.

It could be worse, D-Minus.

I got one of these:

Dear {Author}:

I very nearly sent you our standard form rejection letter in response to your query about your novel, RAINBOWS AT SUPPERTIME, an entirely odious work you have the temerity to describe as "literary."

The form letter would have said that I am extremely busy with current clients' manuscripts, and could not responsibly take on a new book. It would have said that my editorial contacts were less than ideal for this manuscript, and your work might better be handled by another agent. It would have said that our response indicated nothing negative about your work or its prospects in the marketplace.

But that would have been a lie, and an irresponsible one. The fact is, even in a world where I had plenty of extra time, in a world where editors were far less selective in the works they were willing to publish, and where readers bought lousy books with indiscriminate abandon, I still would not represent RAINBOWS AT SUPPERTIME. You see, dear {Author}, I have standards.

In this business, where we must necessarily reject at least 99% of the manuscripts that come before us, it is sometimes difficult to explain exactly what it is we agents are in business to support. But it's not hard to explain what we are against. We are against RAINBOWS AT SUPPERTIME. It is offensive, both aesthetically and morally. The fact that it exists punctures my very faith in humanity.

Unpublished authors claim to like personalized responses to their submissions, and claim to desire helpful feedback. Here is some: stop submitting RAINBOWS AT SUPPERTIME. No honest or reputable agent will ever represent such a work. Offering this up to an editor would instantly destroy an agent's reputation in the publishing industry. Editors, you see, do not like to be insulted, and, frankly, neither do I. So stop wasting everybody's time.

Burn your book, {Author}. Destroy every copy. Erase it from your disk, format the drive, and smash your computer with a hammer.

And once that vital deed is done, in the name of all that is decent, stop writing. Stop writing at once. We in this profession hold sacred the power of the written word, and you befoul it. On some level, you have to know that RAINBOWS AT SUPPERTIME is awful. On some level, you must have been making some kind of sick joke when you submitted this. Really, {Author}, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If this was the form letter, this is where I would invite you to query me with any future projects. But it is my sincere hope that you never write another word, and that I never hear your name again for the rest of my life.

Just an aside, I have gotten the nicest rejections I could have hoped for. One agent told me my novel was a home run . . . then rejected me!!!! I've been told I'm talented and that my work is compelling and gripping. But my favorite was from an agent who told me that she couldn't stop thinking about my book for WEEKS after she read it . . . she ultimately rejected me. I get tons of compliments on my work but ultimately, at the end of the day, all agents tell me the same thing: I'M NOT THE RIGHT AGENT FOR THIS BOOK. And here I thought that being a good writer or having a good book would matter! HAH!!!!

Hm...without looking it up specifically, I've sent about 50, received about 35 rejections, a couple personalized (or personalized-ish), one full request, one partial request, and one request for more time to read pages. A lot of those I knew I was gonna get a no from, however. I'm also toying with a new query letter at the moment just for kicks, so I might get more hits on that one. Not sure, though. I've got a bigger than average word count, and so I'm not expecting much from this one. The next one should get more of a response, I think. It's got a better voice.